| revert | 1. To turn back, or to the contrary; to reverse. "Till happy chance revert the cruel scence." (Prior) "The tumbling stream . . . Reverted, plays in undulating flow." (Thomson) 2. To throw back; to reflect; to reverberate. 3. <chemistry> To change back. <mathematics> See Revert, To revert a series, to treat a series, as y = a + bx + cx^2 + etc, where one variable y is expressed in powers of a second variable x, so as to find therefrom the second variable x, expressed in a series arranged in powers of y. Origin: L. Revertere, reversum; pref. Re- re- + vertere to turn: cf. OF. Revertir. See Verse, and cf. Reverse. 1. To return; to come back. "So that my arrows Would have reverted to my bow again." (Shak) 2. To return to the proprietor after the termination of a particular estate granted by him. 3. <biology> To return, wholly or in part, towards some preexistent form; to take on the traits or characters of an ancestral type. 4. <chemistry> To change back, as from a soluble to an insoluble state or the reverse; thus, phosphoric acid in certain fertilisers reverts. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| revertant | In microbial genetics, a mutant that has reverted to its former genotype (true reversion) or to the original phenotype by means of a suppressor mutation. Origin: L. Re-vertans, pros. P. Of re-verto, to turn back (05 Mar 2000) |
| revertent | <medicine> A remedy which restores the natural order of the inverted irritative motions in the animal system. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |